grey hawk

February 11th, 2013

All but 2 adventurers leave. Obregon finds a set of tracks and we follow. It leads us to a ladder which leads up to a trap door. Pike opens the lock and quietly looks around. He sees a humanoid shaped fire creature. Pike moves to the exit door without alerting it but it hears Gonoan. It charges and slams him. Obregon moves in and gets set afire. Obregon turns around and shoots it twice and Gonoan hits it which kills it. We search the walls while we wait for Obregon to find the tracks. Obregon discovers the tracks exit through a double door in the far corner hidden behind some crates. Gonoan moves the crates. Pike opens the door and we see a hall off to the left and right. There seems to be unnatural darkness in front of the door. As Gonoan steps out, rubbery tentacles spring out of the floor and grapples the party. We futilely attempt to escape. Both adventurers drop and the rest take more damage. Gonoan breaks free and attempts to close the door but the tentacles are in the way. He and Obregon manage to escape but Pike falls. Obregon lassoes him and Gonoan pulls him out. After a few rounds the tentacles disappear. Gonoan goes back to the door and hears someone whispering. Obregon ties a rope around Gonoan who heads down the hall and disappears, the rope comes back empty. Obregon smells the flasks hoping for something helpful but they both smell acrid. Then he heads down the hallway and falls to a couple of magic missiles. INTERLUDE: For what seems like an eternity, your universe consists of pain and nausea. Slowly your mind rebels against the idea of giving in to your suffering and agonizingly your eyes begin to focus. Your aching back arches against the restraints that hold your kneeling frame to the floor. As your throbbing head rises you see a shadowy humanoid figure peering across from you into a pool nearly oblivious to anything else. Straining you can see others that are similarly bound. Wondering what could hold the stranger’s attention your eyes strain and peer into the pool. Slowly the clouded surface clears and reveals a rag-tag band of adventurers opening a door in the side of a hill. On their right sits a massive stone gargoyle. Another statue may have stood on the left but now all that is there is a pile of stones. Pausing from his scrying the mysterious figure speaks. “It’s about time you’re awake. I didn’t drug you that deeply.” From the strangers voice you think it may be a man. When he mentions drugging you, your mind reels amid a thunderstorm of pain that rages between your ears. Apparently noticing your pain your captor pauses, leers over at you and resumes talking. “Oh yes it is quite effective, coupled with the restraints. The side effects of being drugged should keep you from casting any annoying spells while the bonds can tame the most savage barbarian. Rogues trussed up this way find it extremely hard to escape. Indeed I do believe I am quite safe from retaliation. Since you’ve already noticed it, why not peer into the pool.” Your captor replies calmly “Do you see the heroes?” He snorts, “I do believe they are trying to save you. I knew I should have been more cautious with the gargoyle. They must have seen the creature and somehow tracked it here. No matter, I’m betting they perish before you require drugging again. As your mind begins to focus you remember that these heroes aren’t just ordinary strangers. If you can believe your memory in this state, you met a couple of them earlier this week. They were the brothers Hamish. All told there were 5 brothers in the family that aspired to be adventurers. Out of politeness you humored them because it was apparent that while their heart was in the right place they lacked training and equipment. Now as a twist of fate would have it, your lives depend on their skill. Surprisingly they, your would-be saviors, make decent progress. Then disaster hits. As they enter a new room an earthen creature rises from its floor. Caught by surprise two of your rescuers fall before they know what hit them. From across the pool your captor cackles as he watches. The 3 that are left draw swords to avenge their kin. Quickly, anger turns to horror as their weapons land solidly but the beast appears to shrug them off. As the creature wades through a pair of the rescuers the one it ignored bolts toward the way out, only to find it sealed by a seamless piece of stone. Quickly he wheels about to meet the fury of the crypt’s protector. Slowly the pool’s surface grows cloudy and your captor laughs as he gathers himself. As the drug begins to wear off, a new sensation flows into old nerves. Here and there you feel discomfort as the bonds…loosen? Yes, your bonds have definitely become looser. Seemingly unaware your captor rummages around for something inside his cloak as you work your hands free. For a brief moment you see your benefactor out of the corner of your eye. A ferret with an odd kink in its back, several unusual scars and an unfocused eye sits beside a hole in the wall. Its one good eye leers with unbidden hate at your captor before taking off down the hole. Finally you’re free and your captor is still preoccupied. Perhaps with surprise it might be possible to subdue the fiend before he can react. Faced with no other choice you go for it. To your relief the others were freed also. The ferret must be very tired for all its effort. In shock your captor is startled by the coming assault. Then his form begins to waver and fade. Faintly you can hear “No, this was meant to be a simple study of ability. I won’t get my hands dirty this time. We will meet again.” We find all of our gear minus what we found on Bronwyn’s body and a lock of our hair. We are in a pentagonal room with alcoves on 4 walls and a giant eye carved into the 5th. We gear up and search the room. We find 3 secret doors. Each leads to a hallway with a door at the end. One is 25’, one 20’, and one 15’. The 20’ hall leads to a round room with a fresco of a shadowy demonic realm and a door on the opposite wall. We leave and check the 15’ hall. It leads to a trapezoidal room that slopes up with a mosaic on the wall with writing in a foreign language. We check the 25’ hall. Its room is hexagonal with what appears to be a person merged with the floor and a door on the opposite wall. Decisions, decisions…